Going out for friend’s birthday dinners can be a hit or a miss with me. In that, the restaurant or its offering may not appeal to my rather picky palate. But that was not the case with Absinthe Bistro, where we celebrated Grace’s birthday.
In fact, when I checked out the menu online beforehand, I couldn’t wait for Friday’s birthday dinner to arrive.
Marketed as a taste of France on the Drive, Absinthe Bistro is a quaint gem of a restaurant. None of us had been there before and we were really surprised at how much we enjoyed it. The service was aces, the food was hella delicious and for the fixed price of $48 for starter, main and dessert – which is a lot of bang for your buck.
I got the tomato soup with potato and onion for my starter. (it was a hard decision between that or the tuna ceviche!) For my main, I chose the steelhead in puff pastry with dungeness crab + spinach with dill and tarragon cream sauce, a salmon wellington if you will. It was so yummy!
For dessert, I couldn’t resist the blueberry ice cream cake (!) with strawberry sauce. They had me at blueberry ice cream.
Grace ordered the creme brulee and it was in the biggest ramekin I’ve ever seen for such a dessert. All the more crunchy top to crack into and enjoy.
There was also a molten chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream, however, it was on the rich (for me) side. Also, I couldn’t help but giggle because every time I see lava cake, I’m reminded of that scene in the movie, Chef, where John Favreau goes completely ballistic over a bad review on his lava cake. I love that movie!
It was a great night, celebrating our lovely friend at Absinthe Bistro. Inspired by the good company and surprising eats on the Drive, we may even make it a monthly dining out with friends, to discover more tasty restaurants together.
Happy birthday, Grace!
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